


Demons

by sunbean72



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Canon Divergence, Don't piss her off, Gen, I was born mad, I'll probably die mad, I'm Mad, It's Okay, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Pepper Potts-centric, Pepper and FRIDAY team up, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), She tells steve off btw, and kicking names, as a matter of fact, bitterly bitter with a side of salt, do not read if you are his friend, from what I've been told, not canon friendly to anything after civil war, please don't @ me if you stan him, she's strong, unfriendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-24 07:39:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14950431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunbean72/pseuds/sunbean72
Summary: Tony Stark once said, we create our own demons(Tony is still missing after questioning Sam Wilson at the Raft)





	1. Chapter 1

_Ms. Potts? Ms. Potts... Are you with me? Do you know where you are?_

_Yes._

_Please tell me where you think you are._

_I'm... This is the hospital._

_That's right. Do you know why you're here?_

_All I know is what you told me. You said I tried to kill someone but I don't remember it._

_Ms. Potts--_ A warning reluctance began in his voice.

_I want to see Tony Stark._

_We know Ms. Potts, but I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment._

_Then when?_

The few moments pause gave Pepper both fear and hope.

_I'm afraid you're still too sick to see him for a while yet, Ms. Potts._

_I don't feel sick, I want to go home. I'd like to speak to my... I need..._

_I'm trying to help you Ms. Potts. Please try to understand--_

_I've got to get out of here--_ Like always lately, the anxiety and fear and anger were close to the surface, a hair's breadth away, and for a moment her vision fuzzed with a haze of orange.

 _You're going to need to calm down Ms. Potts or you will be sedated. We can't risk your safety or anyone else's._  His voice was firm but definitely alarmed. She forced herself to be calm. _Thank you. We need to discuss what happened in July, nearly a month ago now._

There was a long pause filled with a dark silence.

_Do you know what I'm talking about? Ms. Potts? Virginia? Pepper?_

...

"Pepper? Pepper! Do I need to activate FRIDAY, please answer me!"

"I'm here."

"I thought I lost you. I'm sorry. I am. I should be there, I didn't want to tell you over the phone--"

"No! No. Happy, just stay there with Rhodey, he shouldn't be alone right now."

"Mrs. Rhodes is on her way, Pep, I can be with you. Stay where you are and have FRIDAY--"

"No, please, I'll come to you, I just... I need a minute. I need to process. I need to think. I'll meet you at the hospital, but please do tell FRIDAY to alert me if they find--"

There was a silence filled with all the unspoken years of their friendship, their shared burden, their shared fear and anxiety. "Pepper," Happy said hesitantly, reluctantly. "Are you sure you're in shape to--"

"I'm fine." Her throat was so tight she could barely strangle out the word. Silence met her response, because what could Happy possible say? How could anyone possibly respond to such a blatantly false statement, but there was nothing he could do, nothing anyone could do, and Rhodes, Rhodes was--

She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen a few moments before gently clicking the end button.

The house was silent; that helped, maybe. It gave her a false sense of calm. Like drowning in water so deep and black you couldn't see or hear the storm above water anymore, she didn't feel much of anything at the moment. It would take a little time before her breath ran out.

"FRIDAY?" She called softly. She hadn't activated the AI in months; it was like Tony; when she asked for something (some space to breathe, some privacy to figure out her feelings) that he gave it to her utterly and completely. She'd been used to having AIs as constant companions, but ever since she and Tony were on a break, they had been turned off completely. _Just let them know if you need anything,_ he'd said, kissing her forehead. It took that moment exactly to realize that the AIs had always been for her benefit and not his, and even though the lack of access to her was difficult he bore it for her sake and comfort. She hadn't used them at all for all these weeks. Even so, the blue-white light of the holographic projector flickered instantly to life, awaiting her command. After all this time, FRIDAY was still just waiting for her.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, knowing that after she asked the question, she wouldn't be able to unknow the answer. She knew it was bad. She knew it would hurt, and she hurt so much already. But she had to know.

"Tell me what happened."

"Boss learned that James Barnes had been framed for the UN bombing and that there was a high likelihood that Steve Rogers and James Barnes were in danger, perhaps facing other Hydra super soldiers," FRIDAY replied gently without preamble. "He went to the Raft prison and--"

"What the hell is the Raft prison?" Pepper asked her shakily. FRIDAY pulled up the limited schematics she had from Stark Industries servers, mostly consulting notes that SI had done at the Secretary of State's request. She remembered now. It was a place to imprison the increasingly powerful and violent breed of supervillains popping up throughout the world. A place meant to keep people like Killian contained, or Maria Hill had said something about Inhumans, she'd never asked for the details.

"Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff, and Sam Wilson were taken into custody under the authority of the Sokovian Accords in the jurisdiction of the United States. They were apprehended--"

"I know his part," Pepper interrupted. She had been debriefed on the airport debacle, at least in part, when Rhodey was shipped back from Germany on a stretcher. Tony sent Rhodey back to the New York compound and left before Pepper had even left California to meet them. She hadn't even had a chance to speak with Tony, Happy had been filling her in on Rhodey. _I really can't talk right now,_ Tony had said tensely in the ten-second conversation they'd had. _Pepper... Please just take care of Rhodey until I get back._

"They were taken to the Raft to await being debriefed and for a UN council to convene on how best to handle the case. Boss went there to find the location of the Hydra base. He thought Sam Wilson might give him the information."

"So where? Where's the Hydra base? Why hasn't the tracking beacon been activated?" Pepper demanded.

"That information is within the Mark 46 armor and it was disconnected from the Oracle grid when it entered the Raft. I had brief location data from near Siberia, Russia, before the suit was again disconnected from the grid."

"Define disconnected."

"Last confirmed visual showed an underground bunker. Its likely contact was lost when he entered the lower levels."

"And there's been no contact since?"

"No."

"How long ago was that?"

"29 hours and 32 minutes."

"Why haven't you found him extrapolating data from the last known connection?"

"The armor was not connected to the Oracle grid for a sufficient amount of time for the trace to complete."

"We own six damn satellites orbiting this godforsaken earth, why the hell did it take so long?" Pepper felt her grip on her temper slipping.

"There was significant interference due to the remoteness of the location as well as weather and perhaps other obstructions. However, I estimate using the search pattern algorithms created we will find him within the next six hours Ms. Potts." It was unspoken, but Pepper knew that Friday wanted to find Tony as much as she did.

"Recommend course of action," Pepper said, her voice shaking now. She felt defeated. Once again she was staring at the possibility of losing Tony, really losing him. He could be dead or dying. She hated this. She hated this.

"It's recommended that you remain here and manage things remotely as per physician requirements due to your recent blood loss and--"

"No! Friday override protocol 12 and do not default to main settings without my authorization. Recommend best course of assisting in the search for Tony and helping James Rhodes' recovery."

"I recommend that you allow me to fly you directly to Avenger's Compound via the quin jet. This will allow you access to Rhodey and also the command center set up for locating Boss. Andrew Shaw will be tasked as your contact there to keep you updated." 

"Andrew Shaw," Pepper confirmed, vaguely remembering the compound employee as friendly and competent.

"I recommend that you allow me to upload your medical files to Avenger's Compound medical base and alert Dr. Marcy Westenfield of your recent history and your arrival."

She hesitated, but Tony and Rhodey's needs trumped her desire for privacy and she trusted Tony's ability to hire people who were professional and discreet. "Enact recommendations and forward request that the quin jet be ready for my use in twenty minutes."

"Physical scan requested to forward to medical."

"Granted but tell Dr. Westenfield that I am currently on 'Do not disturb' status except for level three emergencies."

"That requires an override code from the physician. I will place the request when I forward the physical exam."

"Fine, please hurry." She held still, the soft hum of the scan the only sound, the light from the scan and computer screen the only light except what filtered dimly through the window curtains.

"I am required to alert you to several concerning physical findings." FRIDAY began a moment later. 

"Override! I already know. Forward the findings and get me wheels up in 20 minutes."

...

"Pepper, thank God! No one will tell me anything. What's happening?"

"I don't have an update for you, Rhodey. I'm here to see you. I will tell you if FRIDAY gives me any info, but all I know right now is that Tony's missing and hasn't checked in for more than 30 hours. We have people on it, and they've narrowed down the search area. There are already people on the way to pick him up once they find him."

"There will be hell to pay with Ross if Tony's in Siberia," Rhodes replied, closing his eyes. "It's a hell of a time for me to be out of commission." 

Pepper leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder, unable to keep the tears from flowing from her eyes. She'd already had an update from the doctors-- Rhodey had a spinal injury as well as multiple other traumatic injuries including a lacerated liver, ruptured spleen, and a broken left ankle. He'd suffered a pretty severe concussion as well, and was placed in a medically induced coma for the first 12 hours after the injury and had only been awake for short spells at first. Helen Cho was consulting and had greatly speeded the healing of most of his injuries but healing neurological damage was still in the experimental phases and she did not think he was a good candidate with the location of his injury.

"Rhodey," she choked out. "I'm so sorry." Seeing him on the hospital bed, completely flat, half out of it with the pain medications and concussion, the unnatural stillness of his legs, the smell of the medical equipment, all of it served to make the hard knot in her stomach clench into worsening nausea. 

Rhodey reached up and took her hand, squeezing it. "I know. Listen... I know. But it could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse." He looked at her painfully, his eyes etched with the suffering he'd endured. He looked as old and tired as she felt. "How are you holding up, Pep? It's good, it's real good to see you. How are you feeling?"

She swallowed a few times before she was able to answer, swiping at the tears on her cheeks in a futile effort to dry them. "I'm... I'm hanging in there. It's been bad, some days, but there's been some good days lately. Todays not one of them. How bad was it Rhodey? All this Accords stuff."

"I didn't think it was anything we couldn't work out Pep, I honestly didn't. Steve dug in his heels about it, and Tony said screw it, but when Ross pulled the trigger to have them brought it, it was either us or people holding machine guns."

Pepper frowned. "Who was going to point machine guns at Captain America?"

"It's complicated. Steve wasn't helping his own case, he injured a bunch of people in Berlin while they were all after Barnes and pissing off on any and every chance to work within the system. There's a good chance he's even more of a stubborn asshole than Tony! People around here have gotten real worried that Steve is missing too, as well as James Barnes. Steve wasn't able to stop one brainwashed super soldier, and if there's more than one _and_ we know Barnes can still be triggered into becoming the Winter Soldier--"

"What are the odds that Tony and Steve could beat six of them?"

"I... I really can't say Pepper. The two of them are a pretty dynamic duo. There's not much stopping them when they work together but the fact that we haven't heard from them in this long concerns me. But it could be good, Pepper. It could be really good. This could easily be the window Tony's been looking for to get them back in the fold. Should speed up and process for amending things. It's probably just a communications issue."

"Okay." But she had a bad feeling about it. 

"Ms. Potts, Mr. Rhodes. I have new information." Andrew Shaw, the Avenger's Compound employee FRIDAY had tasked with keeping Pepper up to date, came into the room after only a brief tap on the door. He handed her a paper which she glanced at and handed to Rhodey.

"You found Tony?"

"No. King T'Challa of Wakanda apparently found him first. He gave General Ross the exact coordinates exactly seven minutes ago, and our pilots are already close. They should have him within the half hour. I've received word that Helmut Zemo was brought into US custody by King T'Challa several hours ago, perhaps as early as yesterday. Everette Ross with the CIA is in charge of his custody and interrogation into the matter."

"Who's Zemo?"

"They think he's behind the UN bombing and framing Barnes," Rhodey explained. "Thank God he found Tony! Is Steve all right? Are the five other Hydra super soldiers contained?"

"I don't have that information, but--" Andrew flinched, an all-too-familiar look of someone not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. "I'm afraid Mr. Stark was definitely injured. I don't have any details about that, I'm sorry."

"I don't understand," Pepper said quietly.

"What part, ma'am?"

"I don't understand that if Zemo was brought into custody yesterday, why are we just finding out where Tony is?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Potts, I wasn't given that information."

"Tony Stark is to be brought directly to this compound to be treated by Helen Cho," Pepper ordered. " _Directly here._ Have them establish communication with the team sent to get Tony so she can help begin treatment for his injuries, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am. Dr. Cho is already being alerted to the situation as we speak, but we don't know how bad the injuries are, it could be minor--"

"If Tony didn't contact us on his own, the suit was damaged. If it was damaged, he was injured, Mr. Shaw. Please prepare accordingly. What information _were_ you given on the status of Steve Rogers and James Barnes?"

"I haven't been given any information on them at all." Pepper glanced at Rhodey, worried. Could they have been killed? It didn't seem possible, but she could think of no other reason why they would not be with Tony after fighting the soldiers together and apprehending Zemo. Unless Steve was worried about the Accords, but Tony himself had broken them as well there would very likely be some kind of deal worked out. 

Rhodey frowned at Pepper's unspoken question. "T'Challa did seem pretty intent on killing Barnes, hopefully he found out in time that Barnes was framed."

"I hope so, Rhodey. I'm just not sure how much more loss we can take. It would kill Tony if something happened to Steve. It would kill him."


	2. Chapter 2

_Last time we met, you mentioned that you may have remembered something._

_I don't know for sure. I thought it was part of a nightmare I was having. I don't know for sure._

_The obvious answer is-- just tell me what it is you think you remember. Ms. Potts, I'm trying to help you._

_Then please,_ the words came out in an unexpected whisper. _Please stop giving me those drugs. I won't hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone._

_I do understand Ms. Potts, but surely you can understand our position as well. The sedatives are only to keep you and others safe. Safety is our first priority._

_If you'll just let me contact Tony Stark, he's the only one who can help me. I'm trying to remember, but the drugs--_

_Certainly we will give you the minimum amount that we can safely get away with Ms. Potts. It will require your cooperation. Answer my question. What do you remember?_

_I remember learning that Steve Rogers had betrayed Tony. I was angry. I've been... I've been ill recently and there were some unanticipated problems. Tony would know. He's the only one--_

__

_Mr. Stark is not available. And he's not a doctor, correct?_

_He... he's not a medical doctor, but the particular circumstances of my illness and the side effects--_

_Perhaps if you would consent to have your medical records unsealed, Ms. Potts, we would not be in this position. It would be best for everyone if you would simply tell me what illness you suffered and what medications you were taking._

_That's not even... That's very personal. I won't answer._

_Ms. Potts I thought we agreed that if you'd like to talk to Tony Stark, you would answer my questions. Everything here is confidential. We want to get you home, Ms. Potts, but you have to cooperate. Tell me what it is you might have remembered._

Pepper shuddered from her very core, her entire body convulsing with dread and revulsion.

_I remember I felt very cold, and it was very dark. I couldn't move my body. I was afraid. I called for Tony. I remembered he wouldn't come, we were on a break._

There was a prolonged pause.

_That is what happened when you came here and were processed. Your body temperature was dangerously high, the doctors placed you in a hypothermic state. You weren't paralyzed, though the drugs may have made moving difficult, you did call for Tony. I need to know about before that. I want you to remember about before then, Ms. Potts. What can you tell me about then?_

...

They put her in a quiet room with the lights slightly dimmed; she knew immediately the news would be bad. Worse than they'd been anticipating.

Steve Rogers must have died. 

Pepper tried to control her breathing, but was on the verge of hyperventilating trying to control her tears. She was failing at that, somewhat spectacularly. She hadn't known the handsome super soldier very well; they'd spent a lot of time together several years ago after New York and before Ultron and the two of them had hit off surprisingly well. Turned out Steve Rogers had a soft spot for capable women, and his easy charm was best on display when it came to a little safe flirting. They were friends. It had been a while, but she cared for him. 

Tony's history with the man was a bit more complex, but she knew that Tony cared about him, tried to help him in every way Steve would allow. He felt like it was a piece of his father's legacy he could actually appreciate and be happy to participate in. So much of Howard's unfinished business was unpleasant. Steve, maybe, represented something pure and ideal that he could share with Howard and Peggy Carter. The fact that he died before they could resolve their differences would no doubt weigh on Tony, not to mention he probably had survivors guilt. Anticipating Tony's grief after they'd lost so much recently made her unable to control her tears. 

"Ms. Potts," an achingly familiar voice, full of kindness and gentleness, made her look up and halted her tears. Looking up into Vision's kind and sympathetic face broke her heart all over again, remembering JARVIS. 

"Vision, please tell me what's going on." 

Tony would be here in twenty minutes. The limited reports they had said he had been found unconscious when the team arrived, alive but gravely injured and the armor completely powerless as they had suspected it would be. En route back, one of Tony's trusted employees from the compound, Rebecca Medina, had been able to repower the armor. The audio and visual recordings had been sent directly to Avengers Compound, where Rhodey and Vision were the first to view the footage and see what happened and how to proceed.

"First, I wish to inform you that Mr. Stark is responding well to the treatment that's been provided by Dr. Cho's team."

"Is he awake?" Pepper interrupted, unable to wait. 

"Not yet. I have other good news. According to Ms. Medina, the threat of the Hydra super soldiers has been contained. They are all dead." 

Pepper nodded in relief, thankful that that at least was not a concern.

"I'm afraid that, just as we suspected, something went terribly wrong in Siberia. As Mr. Stark didn't have Accords sanction to go and assist Captain Rogers and Mr. Barnes, what I tell you next must remain, for the moment, confidential."

"What?" Baffled, her tears dried for a moment. What the hell did _any_ of this have to do with the Accords? Why wouldn't he have sanction, and even if he didn't they killed five extremely dangerous Hydra agents, no country in the world, especially Russia, would want to be seen as going against that. Their lawyers would have no problem defending it.

"Because Ms. Potts... Pepper." He knelt down beside her so they were eye level, sympathy lining his face. "This is difficult to tell you, knowing it will cause you distress. I'm afraid that Mr. Stark was not injured in a fight against Hydra agents. They were, in fact, already dead when they arrived."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Did Steve and his friend kill them?" She knew she should stop asking questions and let Vision just speak, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Something deep within her didn't want to know what Vision was going to say. She didn't want to hear it. She felt dread rising up within her, snaking up her throat as if to strangle her.

"No," Vision replied calmly. 

"Then--"

"Ms. Potts the man known as Helmut Zemo, the same man who framed James Barnes for the UN bombing, killed the Hydra soldiers while they were in cryostasis. The same man revealed something to Mr. Stark that made him very distraught, and he was angry with Steve Rogers and James Barnes." He paused, knowing in her highly stressed state she was struggling to process what he was trying to tell her.

"Did Zemo kill them or something?"

"No!" Vision said quickly, putting a hand over hers and for a moment she felt the burn of relief, that nothing could be that bad if Steve was alive. "No, he did not. Steve Rogers and James Barnes were injured in Siberia but walked away. The two of them together overpowered Tony when he became angry and struck out at them."

"What do you mean he struck out at them? Who? Steve and Barnes? That makes no sense." She blinked and shook her head. "Why would he fight Steve, he went there to help him, against the Accords, against _everything--"_

"It was revealed to Tony in a very cruel fashion that, under the brainwashing and influence of Hydra, it was James Barnes that killed Tony's parents December 16th, 1991."

"No. NO. You're wrong, they weren't killed they were in an accident. James Barnes couldn't have killed them, it was a _car accident._ "

"I'm afraid not. The Winter Soldier killed them both in order to fulfill the orders he'd been given."

"But... I don't understand. I don't understand."

"I know this is difficult."

"Why was Tony fighting them?"

Vision studied her sadly, a soft sigh moving his chest. "From what I could hear in the audio recorded by the Mark 46 suit, Tony became enraged when it was revealed that Steve Rogers had known about the murders for the past two years."

A terrible silence bloomed between them, and Pepper felt something dark and dangerous within her. "What?" She asked, deadpan, as if daring him to confirm what he'd revealed. 

"Steve Rogers had found out about the Winter Soldier murdering Howard and Maria Stark two years ago when he unmasked Hydra within SHIELD."

_"What?"_

"I believe you are feeling similar to what Tony did in that moment. He was also very sleep deprived and hadn't eaten. I think he may not have been quite himself because he attacked James Barnes and Captain Rogers--"

"Well! Well of course he did!" Pepper said raising her voice and jumping to her feet. Vision stood, holding his hands out. "Of course he did, he was angry, he was upset! He must have... He must have felt so betrayed! Howard talked about Steve all the _time_ and then Tony finds out Steve said _nothing_ to him about his murder?? Why? Why didn't Steve..." She clamped her hand over her mouth, fighting back bitter, angry tears in Tony's behalf. With her other hand she gestured for Vision to continue.

"The fight escalated--"

"What?" Her voice was dangerous. "What does that mean?"

"Both James Barnes and Captain Rogers fought against Tony's intent to harm Barnes."

"They... they fought him? Why didn't they... restrain him? They actually _both_ fought him?"

Vision paused, his face wary now. "I can't speak for them. Tony would be difficult to control in any case, but in this moment he was also emotionally compromised."

A harsh sound like a laugh broke from her. "'Emotionally compromised.' Right. So... so you're telling me that Steve Rogers and James Barnes, the man who killed Howard and Maria Stark and the man who knew about it but decided not to tell anyone, then proceded to double team and attack the man they had just revealed themselves to have spectacularly screwed over?"

"I... I would perhaps not have used those exact words."

"Surely Steve used his shield, defensively. _Surely_ you're mistaken about him physically attacking Tony after _everything,_ no one is _that_ cruel and callused--"

"I am sorry Ms. Potts."

" _Surely_ James Barnes wouldn't raise a hand or a gun against the man whose _life_ was destroyed _by him--"_

__

"Please understand that he was not acting of his own volition when the Starks were killed. He and no choice in the matter, he was subjected to torture and brainwashing."

"Oh!! Oh, that's fine then! Except he's not brainwashed at the moment, is he? Or is he? Rhodey told me he attacked people when he was in custody."

"He was also under the influence of the brainwashing at that time, triggered by Zemo."

"You don't say!" She replied sarcastically. "Then I freaking wonder if he's maybe not the best person to drag to Siberia to try and _fight Zemo and five other Hydra super soldiers!_ Is there any evidence that he was acting under the influence of being brainwashed when he attacked Tony, or is Tony just super-duper special? How could he? How could he?"

"Ms. Potts," JARVIS... no... Vision said gently. "You are in distress."

"You're damn right I'm in distress! It seems to me if Barnes was sorry for what happened as the Winter Soldier and had _any_ kind of decency he'd have turned himself in so he would know it could never happen again! If he was sorry he wouldn't have beaten Tony into unconsciousness! Don't try and tell me they didn't, I know what kind of punishment the suit can take and to disable it they would have had to--" She couldn't help but imagine Tony lying on the ground in a disabled suit and her vision swam.

"Ms. Potts." There was something eerily calm about his voice now, it pulled her out of her pain and grief and anger for a moment and she looked to him. "Ms. Potts." He held out a hand and moved to her quietly and gently as if she were a wild or wounded animal and took her arm gently. Unresisting and confused she looked at him and then looked down at her arm. 

Fear smothered all her other emotions for a moment as she saw what he'd seen. Firery veins of glowing orange traced through her skin. Her hands shook and Vision quickly pulled the chair close as she felt light-headed. The orange disappeared. 

"Are you all right? Shall I call Dr. Cho?"

"No." She wiped her face, pushing her hair now damp with tears and sweat away from her face. "It's... It's probably the adrenaline surge. I should have been more careful, this close after... I'm fine."

Vision scrutinized her carefully, but she had calmed, outwardly at least. "What was that?" He asked carefully.

"It's nothing to worry about. Tony's treating a condition I have, please don't say anything." 

He seemed to consider her words and then nodded slightly. "I am indeed deeply sorry for all that has transpired. I have received word that the quin jet is currently on approach. Please take a moment to compose yourself and join me in the Medical unit." He waited until she nodded and then, giving her arm a gentle and reassuring squeeze, left the room.

Compose... compose herself. She stood up, then sat back down. If only she hadn't suggested the break. She'd been so selfish, but she couldn't have known any of this would happen. She should have done things differently, but she'd been so scared when she found out she was pregnant and Tony was still being pulled into being Iron Man all the time. Then she'd lost the baby and things were so awful and they couldn't stop the bleeding and Tony had used the Extremis serum, dormant in her body before he activated it, to save her life. She'd needed a break. She'd needed time away. She'd needed--

She'd needed so many things, and Tony had needed her and she wasn't there for him. 

No more.

She stood and her steps were calm and measured as she walked toward medical. She could hear the quin jet's arrival. In a few moments she'd be back with Tony, and she vowed she would really be _back._

She was never going to leave him alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor poor Pepper and tony *cries


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently Bucky decides to stay with Steve instead of go into cryo, in this fic. Which is a lot more in character from how he behaved in WS and CW.

_Perhaps if we start with something more specific. Do you remember leaving New York?_

_Yes._

_Do you remember how you got to Mumbai?_

_Yes, of course._

_What was your intention in going there?_

_I wanted to confront the old Avengers. Mostly Steve and Natasha._

_What lead you to believe they were in Mumbai?_

_FRIDAY was watching for them. She knew there was a chance they'd use some old Stark tech and she was watching for it, as well as listening for any signs of a larger threat they might be tracking down. Um. Arms. Arms dealers, mostly. People misusing Chutari tech._

_Who's FRIDAY?_

_It's no one. A computer. A computer program._

_Why didn't you alert the authorities if you knew where they were? Aren't they wanted criminals?_

_Thaddeus Ross had proved himself... untrustworthy. And Everett Ross, a contact for the CIA, had disappeared on some mission to South Korea._

_It makes no sense. Even with a jet it would be difficult to get to India quickly enough to intercept them._

_I was... you already know._

_I'm not pulling teeth, here. Some of the details of your exploits are well known, as you say. So just speak the truth._

_My lawyers--_

_Your lawyers are the ones who agreed to this interview, Ms. Potts! In order to keep you out of prison. No other person on the planet would be offered the deal you've been given, but under the circumstances, you are being given remarkable leniency. It is, however, as you know, dependent on your cooperation._

_I used one of Tony's Iron Man armors to fly to Mumbai._

_Can you use any of his armors?_

_No. I don't know. Maybe._

_But you knew this one would work?_

_Yes, I knew it was coded to me. It was built for me. It was decommissioned a few years ago, I thought I would never want it or need it. It was meant for transport and protection only. The... the Rescue armor. It belonged to me._

_All right, so what happened when you got to Mumbai?_

_Nothing happened. They weren't at the location that FRIDAY gave me, so I got a hotel nearby. I didn't want to be gone long, so I thought I'd spend the night and come back. I didn't want to be away from Tony for long. If there's anything at all you can tell me about him, about how he's doing, about when I'll be allowed to contact him--_

_If we make some progress today, maybe we can consider it, Ms. Potts. At the moment, I can't give any update on our progress so I know it would not be allowed. Keep to our task and we will be done sooner. Continue with what happened next._

_FRIDAY was still watching for signs of them. Late in the night she woke me up and told me she had detected a ping on the Oracle grid with a Stark tech signature. It was raining. It was really hot and wet. I decided to to go to the location._

_With what intentions?_

_I didn't plan it out, I merely wanted to confront them. I didn't think much beyond that idea. I thought I'd tell them they couldn't use Tony's tech anymore. I thought I'd see if they would apologize._

_Did they?_

_...No._

_..._

"Pepper," Helen Cho took Pepper's arm, her hand soft and cool. Pepper shivered, her nerves strung out so tightly she felt stretched to the breaking point. But not for nothing was she once Tony's assistant; not for nothing was she the CEO of one of the largest tech companies on the planet; not for nothing. If there was something Pepper understood, it was pressure, it was high stakes, it was meeting death's eye and not blinking. She controlled herself and spoke calmly as she walked with Dr. Cho down the hallway.

"Tell me what you know."

"Initial scans show multiple traumatic injuries, the most severe of which are to his chest and head. He was apparently bludgeoned in the face-- the suit took the brunt of the damage but it did cause his head to hit against the back of the suit, and there was some kind of blow to the back of the head as well, causing a contrecoup injury. He also received a blow to the chest. Again, the suit absorbed most of the damage but it did cause a severe contusion that caused... well, small hemorrhages like an internal bruise, on his heart and lungs. The bleeding itself was not extensive did put even more pressure against the damaged organs. There were a few cracked ribs and a fractured sternum. Other than that were other injuries such as to his left arm--"

"Is he awake, can I talk to him?" Pepper interrupted as they approached the room where Tony had arrived minutes before. Helen started to speak but as they entered the room there was an overwhelming organized chaos erupting in the room.

"My team is still working on stabilizing him--" Helen began but was immediately interrupted. 

"Dr. Cho we need to get a second EKG he's throwing multiple arrhythmias--"

"IV is in start PRBC stat."

"The Cradle is still warming up, should be functional in less than ten minutes."

"I need a hand over here! Get me the suture tray."

Pepper slid back along the wall, her heart pounding painfully. She could hardly recognize Tony, covered in bruises and dried blood. He was naked though barely covered with a thin sheet as the medical team exposed him to see the extent of his injuries and treat them. She couldn't see his face as it was obscured by a neck brace and the number of people around the bed, but he wasn't moving his arms or legs at all. His chest, covered in wires and monitors, bore a terrible bruise across the center of it; the absence of the arc reactor still looked strange and _wrong_ despite Dr. Wong's expert plastic surgery reconstruction that had left barely any scar. Only a faint circle, as if someone had pressed a cookie cutter against his skin.

Pepper remembered getting back to New York after the Chutari invasion. He'd played off any injury then; he hadn't wanted to see a doctor, he hadn't wanted to let JARVIS scan him, he hadn't wanted a splint for his injured arm. He was more than irritated at the prospect, it had approached agitated, and looking back she realized he didn't want to see how close he'd come to dying. Not after Afghanistan, not after palladium poisoning had he so literally come face to face with something altogether larger and more powerful than he'd ever envisioned. It had shaken him, yes.

It wasn't until very early in the morning, after shawarma and debriefings and damage control and coordination meetings that he finally leaned against her in the car, so exhausted he couldn't even keep his head up. She'd helped him to his room and with his muscles stiff and injured, she'd helped him pull his shirt off for a shower. Her heart had nearly stopped when she saw the extent of his injuries-- his entire torso was a mass of bruises large and small. A particularly large one across the bottom of his ribs concerned her the most. 

"The Hulk. Saved my life, though," he said in answer to her wordless shock. He'd said that Hulk had caught him when he was unconscious, arc reactor not functioning after it's exposure to space. She hadn't known just how traumatic it had been, she'd thought the suit protected him, but of course at those heights at those speeds with that strength, it shouldn't have been surprising. There was another terrible bruise across his left shoulder. 

"That's Loki. He threw me out a window of the tower."

"I thought those windows were re-enforced??"

"He was more forceful than the re-enforcement," he had replied dryly. The Battle of New York had been a learning experience in many ways; it was the first true test of his armor, a prolonged fight against a strong and determined enemy, not just one or two blows but repeated attacks. Certainly he would have died, many, many times if not for the Iron Man armor, but it was not skin tight and it could not absorb all of the punishment dealt to him. The result was that his body was intact but badly bruised. Tony could not move at all the next day when he woke up, so painful and tight were his muscles. Though he didn't cry or make a sound, tears still ran down his cheeks from his eyes watering against the pain as Pepper had helped him get up.

That was preferable to this, she couldn't help but think-- in pain but on his feet, injured but intact, wounded but triumphant. He'd won against impossible odds, he'd well and truly saved the world. Seeing him now unmoving, defeated by an assailant he'd counted as a friend, having his trust broken and his heart, limp and uncaring and unconscious of the efforts made to revive him, it broke her heart anew. She edged closer to the bed, careful to stay out of everyone's way, but she just wanted to see him, just wanted to touch him. She'd had minimal contact since _the break_ and she couldn't stand to think, she didn't dare think that's how it could end.

"Oh Tony," she cried softly, seeing him so still when he was always reaching for her, he was always reaching for her--

"Pepper," Helen said, startling her. "Pepper, are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Am I in the way?"

"No. Your eyes were--" An alarm blared nearby with an insistent urgency.

"Dr. Cho, I need your assistance, his left lung recollapsed, I need your help to decompress the pneumothorax." 

"Hand me that syringe!"

Pepper watched them work on him, watched them quickly and expertly stabilize him. The c-spine was cleared and the brace removed. His arm was splinted and prepped for the cradle to repair. Medications and warm fluids were given, as his body temperature had been dangerously low when they found him. She watched each jab of the needles, each placement of the sticky leads, each blanket placed and then replaced with a warm one, bags of fluid being hung and then removed for a new one. Various modes of oxygen delivery being given as his status improved until there was just a nasal cannula. Someone was helping to wipe off the dried blood and grime, gently cleaning the blood out of his hair. Through it all, he did not move, did not stir, did not open his eyes. A few people at a time started leaving, their expertise and skills no longer needed as they completed their tasks. Pepper moved cautiously toward the bed and when no one moved her, she reached out and took his hand. 

Physically connecting with him, even through a such a simple gesture as intertwining their fingers, caused her heart to contract painfully. The last time they'd touched was when he held her hands and kissed her forehead as he said goodbye when she left. _It won't be for long,_ she assured him. _I just need a little time._ He'd smiled a sad, reassuring smile.

_Whatever you need, honey._

"Tony," she called softly, knowing that if he wasn't responding to their painful procedures he wouldn't respond to her, but he couldn't help it. With her free hand she reached and touched his hair, slightly damp from being washed and curling on his forehead, smoothing it away from his face. She noticed his eyelashes against his cheeks, the black eye, the multiple cuts tended to, the sound of the monitors, the smell of aseptic cleaning agents so strong she tasted it in the back of her throat, his warm hand in hers.

"Ms. Potts? We're ready to move him. You can stay with him." One of the nurses. He was looking at her seriously. She nodded. She folded his hand over his chest, now covered in multiple layers of soft warm blankets.

She followed them numbly down the hallway to a smaller room, watching the monitors flicker to life with his information as they came within range of the sensors. The lights dimmed slightly with a gesture from the nurse, and a digital display appeared on the whiteboard, showing the current problems Tony was being treated for and how. She knew if she tapped any of them, the display would show her more in-depth explanations and results from exams and blood tests. Dr. Cho arrived a moment later.

"Pepper. Do you need something to drink?"

"Okay." Helen glanced at someone over her shoulder and they were already leaving to get them something. "If you need anything else, PATCH is the name of the AI here and he can get you anything as well as give you up to the minute information on Tony's status."

"PATCH?"

"Physician-Assisted TeleCommunication Hologram."

"Right."

"He's going to be all right. I've seen him pull through worse. None of his current injuries are life-threatening, I want you to know that; he just needs some time to heal."

"Why isn't he awake then?"

"He sustained head injuries. He was left in the cold for a long time. His body is tired."

"When will he wake up?"

"I don't know. If I had to guess? Brain scans indicate his delta waves are diminishing at a rapid pace. There are no Gamma or Beta waves present at the moment, but that could change at any time. I'd suspect within the next six hours, but I can't say with certainty. I suppose he'll be in and out of consciousness even when he does wake up."

Someone put a cup of ice water in her hand and she took a drink. "Okay."

"I'll be monitoring his progress carefully. It might be best if he sleeps at the moment while the Cradle heals some of his bone and tissue injuries."

"Will it help his heart, lung, and brain injuries?" She asked evenly.

"It will certainly help, although the Cradle is not ideal for central nervous system injuries like Tony's and Colonel Rhodes."

"Right."

Helen hesitated as if she wanted to say something more. But she stood. "Please let PATCH know if you'd like to talk to me at all."

"Okay." She tore her eyes from her cup. "Thanks."

After she was left alone with Tony, she asked PATCH to send an update to Rhodey as she pulled her chair beside Tony's bed. She hadn't seen him sleep this peacefully in a long time. Maybe he really did need it. 

"PATCH enact FRIDAY concurrently to enabled program and encrypt audio and visual level 7. Authorize Potts0611." The display flickered and the light changed from green to red. "FRIDAY?"

"Hello, Ms. Potts."

"Download data from Oracle Cloud, all pertinent information from the past 96 hours and all data from the Mark 46."

"Colonel Rhodes is the only authorized person to access that information."

"Override."

"Unable to override."

"Override authorization... Cipriani 12 alpha zero six." She couldn't help but hold her breath. Tony was nothing if not meticulous, and if her authorization was revoked, it meant that he planned on her never coming back. 

"Authorization acknowledged." 

A hard lump lodged in her throat, relieved only slightly by the sob that escaped her. "Show me what happened."

The screen flickered to life, sometimes playing video, sometimes only audio. 

_Oh, that's Charlie Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid._ Pepper leaned in, watching Tony's face as he spoke. _...We'll never know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass..._

__

_..This document just shifts the blame!_

__

_I'm sorry. Steve. That's... That's dangerously arrogant._

__

_...The safest hands are still our own..._

The video played out the remainder of their discussion, then switched to some conference room where Steve was sitting at the table with Tony.

_Hey, you wanna see something cool?_ She watched Tony show Steve the pens. Tony loved those stupid pens. 

_...Is Pepper here? I didn't see her._

_We're kinda... Well, not kinda..._

_Pregnant?_

_No, definitely not. We're taking a break. It's nobody's fault. _Pepper felt punched in the stomach. She tried to focus on what was being said but it wasn't until she heard Steve almost shouting that her attention was fully given back to the video.__

_...She's a kid!_

_GIVE ME A BREAK! I'm doing what has to be done! To stave off something WORSE._

_You keep telling yourself that. Hate to break up the set._ Pepper watches Tony receive a verbal slap in the face from Steve Rogers, mocking Tony by giving him the pen to keep the set complete while refusing to do the one thing that would keep the Avengers team intact. She put her hand over he mouth.

She watches Tony stop the Winter Soldier from killing Avengers and civilians by facing the trained assassin with only a gauntlet, his body exposed and vulnerable. She gasped when Tony stopped the bullet with his hand, then sees the Winter Soldier elbow him in the face and punch him in the stomach, stunning him. 

_36 hours. Jeez..._

_...Your judgment's askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday... I'm trying to keep you from... from tearing the Avengers apart!_

_You did that when you signed._

She watched the airport battle unfold on security cameras, watching Tony get hit by cars and blasts and blows. He watches Sam's Redwing drone, which Tony had designed, crack into the Iron Man helmet. A few minutes later, through Iron Man's perspective, she sees Spider-man fall and watches as Tony rushes over to him, the audio clicking in as he tells the young man he's done.

She sees Rhodey fall, hears Tony's scream of helplessness.

Audio only, _Start facial scanning for this Zemo guy._

_You seriously think I'm going to listen to you after the Leipzig fiasco? You're lucky you're not in one of these cells._

_The Futurist, ladies and gentlemen! The Futurist is here! He sees all, he knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not... You gotta watch your back with this guy! There's a chance he's gonna break it!_

_...Sam, I was wrong._

_There's a first._

_Cap is definitely off the reservation but he's about to need all the help he can get..._

_You have to go alone. And as a friend._

_Easy._

"Pause feed!" Pepper gasped and stood up, trying to catch her breath. She closed her eyes. She was going to _kill_ Tony, as soon as he lived long enough. The stupidity, the utter disregard, asking Sam Wilson if he'd been fed when he himself hadn't eaten in a day, talking and worrying about Steve Rogers being in danger when the man was dragging a fully brainwashed Hydra assassin to Siberia--

"It was just getting good," she heard a faint voice say.

"Tony!" She turned and saw his warm brown eyes, open and alert, watching her. She threw her arms around him. "Oh, Tony." She could not hold back her sobs. She felt his arms go around her, holding her tightly.

__

"Pepper, are you okay? Sweetie? How are you feeling?" She heard him ask, pressing kisses to the top of her head.

__

"I'm fine."

__

She was not fine.

"Honey I'm sure the doctors will be here any minute, before they get here, I wanted to tell you--"

"Tony."

"I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I love you." His voice was faint, his words were slurred. "Had some time to think. In Siberia. Not sure I can do it anymore, sweetie." 

"Tony..."

"I let everyone down. I failed everyone. Somethings you can't fix." His eyes were closing again. "It's okay. It's okay if you leave too. I don't blame you. I don't want you to feel bad."

"I'm never leaving you again," she responded sharply, and he dragged his eyelids open, struggling to stay awake. 

"Not a good idea." His eyes closed.

"Tony. Tony!" He'd fallen back into unconsciousness, just as the doctors and nurses came in. The screens had gone black as soon as they approached and she discreetly pulled up the info and saved it to her secure server, closing down FRIDAY so only PATCH was running. She waited a while until it was clear Tony wasn't waking up again.

"PATCH, notify me if Tony is going to wake up again," she said when the medical personnel had left again. She headed for Tony's lab.

...

The first thing she saw was the pieces of a badly damaged Mark 46 in a scrap pile on a workstation. Near it on the floor was a familiar red, white, and blue shield. She walked over to them, running her finger over the edge of the shield. 

She watched the rest of the Mark 46 surveillance without interruption. She couldn't see the video of Howard and Maria Stark's death, but she could hear it; hear Howard ask for help for his wife, hear Maria call his name.

She saw James Barnes open fire on Tony, saw Steve damaging the suit, saw the moments they double teamed him and using all their might, beat him down.

_This isn't gonna change what happened._

__

_I don't care. He killed my mom._

She saw the arc reactor blast off James Barnes' arm. She saw Steve pick Iron Man up and throw him down forcefully. She saw Steve bring his shield down on Tony's face over and over again until the video cut out and the loud crash of the shield embedding itself in Tony's chest piece could be heard. There was no sound except breathing for a few moments.

_That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!_

She rewound the video and watched it againg and again, the moment Steve was bringing down his shield on Tony's face.

"End. Stop the... end review." The screens went black. Pepper sat in the dark silence of the lab for a long time, a long time. She didn't sleep or think much, or move. She ached. She hurt. She cried a little, but she was done with sobbing.

Finally she stood and walked to a closed panel. Typing in her authorization code and letting the scanner obtain her biometrics, the locked station opened, revealing the Rescue armor. 

"Status."

"Decommissioned. Incapable of flight. Non-functional."

"Weapons?"

"None presently equipped."

"All right. Let's get to work."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did someone here ask for ahhhhh... FRIDAY and Pepper Potts kicking names and taking **s? 
> 
> I don't even know if this chapter makes sense I'm not gonna lie about it.

_Pepper sat on the edge of her bed, watching the sky change slowly as the night progressed. This was a nice facility; on ten acres, well maintained. There was a nice little area with trees that helped provide privacy and she thought there must be a little pond in there somewhere because she could hear the frogs. She hadn't heard frogs in so long, maybe not since she was a teenager. Not since she moved to New York City._

_She really liked the sound. It was kind of... pretty._

_She pulled her sleeves down over her knuckles, fighting against the cold. They kept it so cold here, so cold, it was cold. She could hear the sound of the air conditioning fan going all the time._

_She shivered, feeling it like ice water seeping through her veins. The thought occurred to her that Tony had spent a much longer time in the frigid Siberian weather and she flinched, closing her eyes and pressing her fingers on her lips as if to ward off the thought. The movement gave her pain; her muscles were sore from where they gave her intermuscular injections. It was not terribly painful but it was unpleasant, and it was a reminder of things she did not want to think about._

_She was slowly coming back to herself._

_She slowly dropped her hand to her abdomen just below her belly button. An emptiness yawned within her, something that felt like a black hole. She'd gone her whole life not giving much thought to having children, had been happy and fulfilled with her life. She was brilliantly successful and there was no one who could argue, not even her mother, not even her Uncle Morgan, not when she was so happy, when she'd accomplished so much._

_"Not being as careful" was as close to "trying" that she and Tony ever got, but, yeah, they were still pretty careful. It had taken her completely by surprise when she found out she was pregnant, she hadn't even realized it until someone mentioned that she seemed a little pale and was she okay because she'd been sick every morning the past couple weeks? And it clicked in her mind and she'd waited until after the day was over to buy a pregnancy test but she didn't need it by then, she knew._

_And it was funny how little it took for her to care about the little life growing within her; she only knew for a few hours and already it felt as if her worldview had shifted, and was it supposed to be like, that sudden and complete? On a cellular level it couldn't even be considered a baby yet, right? She had no idea about that, but anyway, it felt like a baby to her, a living breathing (so to speak) bit of Tony and her and also its own person and who was it and what would they be like and all of that was all she could think about, and could she be a good mom, and of course Tony would be an amazing father she knew that, she'd seen him their whole lives together, she knew._

_And the rug had been pulled out from under them, and she wasn't expecting the grief. No one ever told her how bad it could hurt, she was only five months along, but she'd felt her moving in there, they'd heard her heartbeat, and yes, the grief was real. It was probably the most real thing she'd ever experienced, actually; it felt that way. It felt like she'd lost an entire world. She hadn't just lost the baby, she'd lost everything she wished and dreamed for for that baby, from first smiles to graduating college and growing old and everything in between and it was a lot to lose._

_She'd needed the break, so had he; her so she could focus on her loss and letting her body heal. He had wanted to get back to work. She resented Iron Man being used as a coping mechanism, she was ready for the next phase of their lives. He'd been Iron Man for so long now; there was no longer an arc reactor in his chest, the suits could be used independently, she was ready for that and he wasn't quite yet but they'd get there. They would, neither of them doubted it._

 _She remembered saying goodbye to him. He'd given her one last kiss then kissed her forehead. She pressed her forehead against his, tears streaming down both of their faces. "It's no one's fault," she'd reminded him. But like usual he'd squarely blamed himself. She repeated it. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault," and she was nearly always right so he would try and remember it but they still needed the break._

_But it was only ever meant to be a break, and when the implosion of the Avengers came so fast, so hard, so devastatingly viciously complete, there were a few moments with Tony missing and then how badly he'd been injured that made her wonder if she'd lose him entirely. In an odd way, it had helped. She'd snapped out of the pit she'd felt trapped it with the terrible reminded of how much she still had to lose._

_"Oh Tony," she sighed into the cold and dark, silent room. She needed to get back to him. She would. It was time for this to be over._

...

The past ten days had been... they'd been difficult for Tony. His recovery, aided as it was by his almost unlimited access to resources and technology, was painfully slow. Helen thought there was some interference with the cradle due to his repeated and prolonged exposure to powerful electromagnets and microcellular inflammation from the repulsors.

Pepper thought that Tony was just tired.

He slept a lot.

It was unlike him, certainly, but he needed it. He needed it badly, and for once, he didn't prioritize anything else over it. He was eating, he was sleeping. He and Pepper had officially ended their "break," and that was actually pretty good. But he wasn't _better._ His wounds were slow to heal. His stitches had split twice, and his frostbitten fingers were still sore and numb. 

He slept a lot.

That was okay. Pepper had had things to do.

...

It felt like Tony.

It felt like home.

The smell of the mechanical components, yes; the lab. Coffee and aftershave and an occasional faint whiff of cologne. She could smell the burn of the reactors, their own particular odor, not unpleasant but sharp, metallic-- it screamed Tony. He was all around her and all she could feel was his absence, it was all she could feel.

She'd wasted--

It was a waste. And she hadn't been available to him, hadn't been _there_ for him.

She'd always been too afraid she'd lose him. To Iron Man. To some murderous villain. To an army of aliens for Loki's sake, not because of _Steve Rogers._

Not that... not that she thought Steve tried to kill him. It was difficult to know for sure-- the damage to the suit, probably inflicted with the intent to disable it, could only have been accomplished by also injuring the occupant of the suit and Steve knew that. He certainly, certainly hadn't been pulling his punches, that was for damn sure, but. Pepper was less concerned about the physical damage Steve inflicted and much more concerned with the idea of the emotional damage he'd done. The breach of trust, the rupture of a sure and steady friendship that had come not from a similar taste or personality but one that stemmed from facing a common foe. One that began from being on the same _side_ and facing whatever may come. The Accords had been a misstep, but even given his belief that they were what was best for the world and the Avengers, Tony had still set them aside when it came to Steve's wellbeing. 

And Steve. Well. He'd made a different choice.

Pepper Potts was filled with a burning rage that she'd thought had been extinguished forever. Tony and Bruce had... they'd found a way to inactivate Extremis, though not remove it, as it was incorporated into every cell in her body. Tony had given her a small dose of a reagent to reactivate it briefly, after the miscarriage when she'd almost died. Her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, and although they were giving her blood as fast as they could, she had started to go into organ failure and Tony had risked reactivating Extremis to save her life. It had worked, but while she was recovering she had needed a break and he had given it to her. Then all hell broke loose with the Accords and the Avengers and before Pepper knew it, she was in Medical at the Compound hoping Tony didn't suffer a permanent injury while Rhodey was paralyzed for life.

"Scan the building FRIDAY," she ordered quietly, crouched nearby. The suit felt strange-- instead of bulky metal, it felt like a second skin, like an extension of her. Part of her realized it was the strength Extremis was lending her, and in the back of her mind, she knew she was literally playing with fire. She should go back to the compound, back to Tony to start their new life together. She should leave this and forget about the people who had hurt and betrayed Tony, but--

She also realized that _they_ answered to no one. No one would come for them. No one would demand reparations, for any of the damage and death they'd wrought, and certainly not for what had happened to Tony. She'd asked FRIDAY for the debriefings. Ross had screwed up so royally that he wasn't getting so much as a beat cop to do his bidding at the moment. The US delegation to the UN felt the window had closed for the moment for going after the ex-Avengers, and a small office was tasked with trying to track them down. So far they hadn't had any luck, not with the small amount of resources that had been allotted to them. 

Even if they did find them. Even if they brought them in, somehow. Even if they stood trial. Even if they were sued in a court of law, what then? Nothing. Nothing would ever happen to them. They would never face any consequences for the destruction they'd participated in. They had no money. What was the judge going to do, lock them up? Give them community service? 

No.

She wasn't going to _allow_ them to just... walk away after what they did. How they _used,_ how they _harmed_ and they didn't even look back? Didn't even wait to see if Rhodey, if Tony were okay? Left them literally _crippled_ with no possible way to defend _themselves_ let alone the millions of people they'd promised to protect?

Then Steve Rogers had the insufferable, unmitigated _gall_ to write a sorry excuse for an apology letter and she knew he felt that was him being the bigger man, the better person, offering to come if Tony needed him. Needed him to what? Beat him senseless again? 

She'd make him sorry. 

A warning light flickered on in the HUD, displaying the increase in body temperature and altered vital signs. She took a deep breath. She couldn't help but give herself a wry smile. Too bad Bruce had bailed. He'd understand. He'd understood.

"Heat signatures match three of the ex-Avengers and James Barnes," FRIDAY said quietly. "Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson. Pepper, are you sure you want to do this?" 

"I'm sure. Are you sure?"

"Yes," the AI answered with fervor. She had been there. Helpless, unable to do anything for Tony when it was all happening. She'd been preparing to protect Tony against the ex-Avengers from the moment she got home, convinced she had to do everything in her power to prevent it from happening again. She was sure of herself, but Pepper... "He might not be happy."

"Don't worry, FRI," Pepper said grimly. "This is between us girls."

In response FRIDAY ran through a weapons check.

"What are they up to? Where are the others?"

"I only have approximations for where the others are, but Wanda is not in the country. I believe she is in Sokovia. Clint Barton and Scott Lang are in custody in the US, present location classified. The rest of the team are here investigating the report of a HYDRA, Ten Rings terrorist cell operating out of a warehouse here. There had been some intel that they were stripping Ultron bot parts and selling it in exchange for information, vibranium, and alien tech."

"Well that sounds important," Pepper said seriously. "Should we let them finish?"

"Unfortunately, their intel was faulty," FRIDAY responded. "The warehouse belongs to Stark Industries, but it's been empty for the last six months." Pepper raised an amused eyebrow, surprised at the devious behavior but pleased. When she'd started making adjustments to the Rescue armor, FRIDAY had not questioned her or criticized her at all. She'd immediately started making suggestions, even using parts from the defunct Mark 46; Pepper thought that there was a small chance the AI was nursing a healthy grudge.

"Well then. Let's go knock and say hi."

...

Pepper Potts was not trained as an assassin. Or a fighter. She didn't know how to kill anyone, although, admittedly, she'd done just fine when forced to. 

But FRIDAY.

FRIDAY had hundreds of hours of not only individual members of the team, but members sparing with each other, fighting together or in tandem. In fact, when Tony had left Avengers Compound after Ultron, FRIDAY had been the one to set the team training schedules, and she made sure that each person had training with each of the others. She hadn't done anything with the information or analyzed it, mostly because she hadn't been asked to, but after the Mark 46 armor was reconnected with the Oracle Grid and she'd completed repairs to her system, she'd immediately accessed and analyzed the records. 

She'd recorded them only at the request of Steve Rogers, who had wanted to be able to review and critique the team's sparring. FRIDAY had been happy to help and oblige the Captain, but he'd handed her a particularly effective tool against him, against all of them.

The information, added to the armor particularly designed by her to be used against them and exploit their weaknesses, added to the strength and lack of mercy that Extremis brought, made Pepper a particularly ruthless, capable, and efficient enemy.

Not particularly having anything against Sam Wilson, she knocked him out immediately with a small disk that allowed a small burst of electricity to the exact right spot to induce unconsciousness. The other Avengers weren't even aware she was there when he hit the floor. 

Knocking Natasha back with a concussive blast and EMP cables that instantly disabled her Widow Bites and any other electronic weapons on her person, she was also tightly bound arm and legs with cables that couldn't be cut by anything less than Vibranium. (Which Steve, unfortunately, was distinctly without at the moment). She didn't even have a chance to defend herself; she fell to the ground like a log, shouting a warning to Steve and Bucky.

Steve and Bucky whirled around, Bucky raising his gun and firing and Steve staring in shock. "Tony?"

It was the surprise, maybe, that made it so easy. So pitifully sinecure. Without the shield to brutalize the suit, Steve had very little power to penetrate her defenses, and she'd punched in him in the face three times when all he could do was get his arms up to try and block the blows-- she was _fast_ \-- a solid blow to his chest, right where he'd brought his shield down on Tony, knocked him back hard and she hit him twice more before Barnes caught her arm and she turned her attack on him, her anger growing every moment.

(Not that he'd killed Maria and Howard, under mind control, but that he'd done it and never turned himself in to not be used as a weapon again, that he'd catastrophically altered Tony's life as his alter ego and then raised a gun, a fist, a hand against Tony.)

His metal arm gave her a slight bit more trouble; there were only a few minutes of footage from Siberia of Bucky's fighting style, and he was not as easy as the others to anticipate because of that, but he couldn't hurt her either, even with the arm that someone had provided him (probably T'Challa, she guessed). She blasted him in the chest with a repulsor to give herself some room, then swung a punch that knocked the gun out of his hand. With FRIDAY getting better at fighting him each moment, with three quick, powerful movements, he was down; she was so strong, so fast, and deciding he was not worth any more of her attention, she hit him with the restraints. (New ones meant to withstand the strength of the super soldiers, something Tony hadn't anticipated ever needing, but FRIDAY had already started creating them when Pepper started her vendetta.) Barnes gasped, the repulsor knocking his breath from him.

"Tony no! What are you doing?" Steve shouted, angry now. He struggled to his feet then lunged, using his powerful strength to try and restrain her by jumping on her back when it was turned to keep an eye on Barnes. She elbowed him in the face to get him off, splitting his lip, adding to the gash on his cheek from punching him earlier. He grabbed up Bucky's gun to use as a club and she sliced down on his arm. She heard the snap of the bone there and Steve grunted in pain, falling to his knees, his eyes wide with shock.

"You broke my arm!"

"Did I?" Pepper flipped open the faceplate, exposing her head, and Steve's jaw dropped. "'I know I hurt you. Hopefully, someday you can understand,'" she said in mock sympathy, staring down at him on his knees in front of her.

"Pepper?" He asked in shock. 

"Pepper!" Natasha gasped. "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"No." She turned back to Steve and slowly raised her hand, the repulsor powering up. "I know you've been hit by a repulsor before. I wonder if you've ever been hit by someone who _means it._ "

"Is that," Steve panted, gritting his teeth against the pain. "Is that what you're going to do? Kill me?"

"No! I'm not here to kill you, Steve," she replied, aggrieved in tone. She tilted her head, contemplating. "I'm here to make you sorry. Is it working yet?"

"Pepper... Pepper, why..." Steve struggled to his feet, still holding his mangled arm. 

"You have a lot of nerve to ask me that." She stepped back. "Move over by her," she said, gesturing to the prostrate Natasha. Steve moved where she asked, keeping an eye on Barnes, who had gone still when Pepper revealed herself. 

"Pepper what are you doing?" Natasha asked again, shaking her head to get her red hair out of her face. "Where's Tony?"

"As if you cared!" Pepper snarled, her eyes flashing orange. She stepped forward and her foot dragged unexpectedly-- the suit was suddenly sluggish. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?' Pepper, you--" Natasha began imploringly.

"Shut up, you idiot," Pepper snapped, her anger darkening her vision a moment, not caring. "I wasn't talking to you." She put the helmet back up to see if the HUD would tell her what was wrong, but it was dark, running on bare power. FRIDAY wasn't responding, was silent, did not move. Pepper struggled a few moments while Steve and Natasha watched her warily. It was no use. Something was wrong, but she didn't have the time to worry about it, she ejected from the suit. No armor now, except what the sleek, black underarmor provided; she wasn't bullet-proof anymore. But she wasn't helpless. FRIDAY had made sure that should they somehow disable the suit, she would still be capable of defending herself. She had a lethal looking weapon on her hip; whether it would kill or merely stun someone was entirely up to the setting. 

Steve, Natasha, and Barnes watched her warily. "You sent the intel on the Ultron deal," Steve said tiredly. "I'm guessing... Tony doesn't know you're here."

"Don't pretend you know him now, Steve," she said through gritted teeth as Steve got to his feet. She looked down at her clenched fists and saw glowing veins of orange flashing dangerously over her skin. She put a hand to her head, feeling the powerful Extremis burning through her, on the verge of being out of her control. Steve stepped toward her and she held out a warning hand, grasping herself around her middle.

"Don't," she said fiercely. "Unless you want me to kill you."

"Steve back off!" Natasha said, struggling against her restraints. Steve took a wary step back, holding his arm.

"Okay," he said simply. "Okay. Pepper. Let's just... take a moment to calm down. All right? Is Sam okay? Can I go to him?"

"I didn't hurt him," Pepper replied, forcing her voice into a calm. She wished Steve would _shut up_ for a second, so she could calm down, she could control her anger. Bruce had told her, the first time he was helping with Extremis before he disappeared, that she was probably one of the few people in the world that truly understood what it was like for him. Of course, Bruce would just Hulk out; catastrophic, certainly. Pepper might just incinerate herself and everyone within 12.5 yards. "Stay where you are."

"Okay."

"Pepper... Pepper." Natasha was looking at her insistently until Pepper made eye contact. She didn't flinch away from Pepper's reproach. "Let me out of these. Okay? I won't try anything. Let me out and we'll talk, all right? Just talk."

Pepper felt her temper boil and she leaned over, resting her hands against her knees as a wave of Extremis heat made her lightheaded but she laughed. A hollow, bitter sound. "Oh Natasha. Natalie. Black Widow. It's so _cute_ that you think I would trust you now. You'd take me down in a heartbeat if you could. No. I think it's best if you just hang out there a minute."

"Pepper I won't take you down, I won't touch you, you can trust me!" Natasha said firmly. "I can see that something is wrong, you're sick, is it Extremis? I thought Bruce said--"

"Be silent," Pepper commanded. "You're unbelievable. I can trust you?" She straightened, looking at the blonde woman. Pepper frowned, not liking the new look. "How could you not tell him, Natasha? After everything. How he took care of you and made you weapons and kept you safe and gave you a home? How could you keep it from him?"

"Pepper, it was a five-second conversation and I really didn't _process_ it. I didn't know the Starks, I didn't think about it with everything else that was going on and then I just forgot." A pained look crossed her face and she hesitantly asked, "Did Tony say something?"

Pepper gave a small, malicious smile. "No, he didn't. But FRIDAY did tell me the last thing you said to him was that he needed to watch his back. Was that supposed to be some kind of a joke?"

"No! God, no, it wasn't like that! I had no idea he'd find out the truth, I hadn't even thought of it in more than a year!"

"You know I find that very interesting, Natasha. Very. How _nice_ for you that you were able to hear information like that about someone and just forget about it. You see, for Tony, every Christmas since he was seventeen, it's been all he can think about. I thought you were his friend. You're not. You're nothing. You're just like everyone else, and I was such a fool for thinking you were someone that might care for him, protect him. Instead, you just used him and when he needed you, you had more important things and people to care about."

"I was never using Tony," Steve put in quickly, seeing Pepper getting more and more angry with Natasha. "Tony and I... It's complicated!" He said hastily seeing Pepper turn her wrath to him. "I never wanted to hurt him Pepper! Tony is a good man, we don't always see eye to eye. We're very different from each other. But I had no choice--"

"Don't you ever say that to me again. If you want to lie to yourself, be my guest, but I won't allow you to lie to my face. You had a choice. You had one. Not only could you have told him sooner, but for a brilliant strategist, allowing Tony to watch that video when you knew what he'd see, allowing Barnes to raise a gun on him, and then attacking him instead of talking him down-- you had a choice. I heard you. 'I could do this all day.' I heard what you said, you bastard."

"Listen, please! He would have felt so guilty if he hurt or killed Bucky! I didn't want him to have more guilt, I was helping him--"

Pepper said nothing but advanced on him threateningly, and he cut off, backing away from her. "Pepper he couldn't have just not fought him, he was so angry, he was going to kill Barnes to make Steve hurt the way he did!" Natasha said urgently. 

"No. If he would have put his gun down and Steve would have dropped his shield, Tony would never have attacked them. You know I'm right." She'd seen him reach out to Stane at the end, too. Anyone who ever raised their arms in surrender, he'd always stopped attacking and he'd never attacked anyone who was helpless. She turned back to Steve. 

"I'll tell you the real difference between you and Tony, Steve," she said more gently, her voice mocking now. "It doesn't have to do with any philosophical misunderstandings. It's the root of it. Except for three minutes of pain, it didn't require any work or sacrifice on your part for you to be what you are. You've used the genius of others, including Howard Stark, to achieve what you never could, while Tony has had to work his hands bloody to become what he is today. And he remakes himself whenever he needs to, while you... well. You don't, Steve. You're the same. And you've always had the ability to choose your own battles, whereas Tony's battles are always chosen for him and the entire time he's berated, belittled, and bullied relentlessly. I know what you're afraid of, Steve. You're afraid of not having anything left to fight.

"Well, that's really sad, but do you want to know what Tony's afraid of? It's the other difference between you two. _He's_ afraid everytime he's giving. Compassionate. Kind. He has to be afraid that those things will be used against him, and you _did._ I haven't figured out, yet, if you're just that thoughtless and self-centered, that heartless, that you didn't know what you were doing, or if you knew and didn't care." She lifted an eyebrow expectantly as if waiting for him to answer.

Steve clenched his jaw and looked at Barnes, who was watching, his eyes black and glittering in the darkness, and at Natasha, who had sat up and was watching Steve with worry. "I... I didn't... I never meant... Tony knows that, that I would... I would be there if he if he needed me to, to... when it comes down to it, he knows--"

"It did come down to it, Steve," she reminded him contemptuously. "And we're not talking about what he knows. We're talking about-- NO!"

Somehow Barnes had gotten out of his restraints. FRIDAY didn't have any intel on Wakandan tech, and though Steve wasn't carrying any Vibranium, Barnes had a knife that looked suspiciously like the metal and had cut through his restraints while she and Steve were talking.

Pepper didn't think-- she only reacted. Her vision flared orange and she was fighting James Barnes hand to hand, matching his strength and then slowly overpowering it. Each blow he landed triggered the healing factor of the Extremis serum; it was a terrible feedback loop that was quickly completely out of her control. She reacted-- too slow and unskilled to be a match for him, but though his blows hurt her, she was just able to deflect most of them, she was _fast--_

Even with a broken arm, Steve had to intervene, trying to throw Pepper off as she viciously defended herself. Natasha was screaming at them to leave her alone; she alone knew the danger. Both Steve and Barnes tried to back off, but it was too late. Pepper engaged them each time they tried to move away, the blows of their fists leaving a fiery orange glow visible even through the underarmor fabric. 

Things were not looking... they weren't looking good. Steve was down, unable to protect himself as well. Barnes was trying to back off but Pepper was relentless, and he was soon bloodied. With the same strength that had punched through and armor and knocked down a nearly impervious Killian, she delivered a blow that put Barnes in a daze and Steve was barely able to push himself standing, cradling his broken arm as Pepper advanced toward him again.

Pepper didn't feel right, though. She could feel that things were _off_ but through the Extremis haze, she couldn't place what it was. Her body was overwhelmed by the serum; she was beyond powerful, burning, burning. She kicked Barnes away from her where he lay on the ground and grabbed an unresisting Steve by the shirt front, drawing back a fist--

"P-Pepper!" A voice gasped, and she paused, turning slowly as shock chased out the anger, shoving Steve away from her. 

It was Tony. He was in the rebuilt Mark 40 armor, one of the few he'd rebuilt after Killian, 40.2. It was his fastest armor by far, and Tony was stumbling out of it, his brown eyes alight in pain and anguish and fear. He was clutching his side where his ribs had been broken; he was still dressed in medical-issue clothes. She turned to him, lit by an internal fire of Extremis, the orange flickering toward the red, toward the dangerous. Tony took one look at her, staggering toward her, exhausted by the breakneck speed which he'd flown to her, overwhelmed by his injuries and fear and anxiety and terror.

He stepped to her and crushed her into a tight embrace. She knew, this time, it burned-- but he didn't let her go. He held her tighter, and at first she could barely feel it, he was too weak, and she was so angry. Now she was angry at _him,_ for putting himself in danger, for coming here when he was injured, for trying to _stop her--_

"Pepper... Honey," he murmured into her hair, his hand on the back of her head, his arm around her waist. "Pepper. Come on, sweetheart, come on. It's okay, baby. It's okay. Come on. You said you wouldn't leave me. Remember? Come back."

The Extremis haze started to fade as grief and love trickled in as cool drops of water against her burning rage. Her body, rigid with anger, slowly relaxed. "Tony? Tony, what are you doing here?" The dying embers of the glowing orange slowly faded as she reached a hand up and touched his pale and bruised face. "You're not supposed to be--"

"I had to come find you," he said brokenly. "I woke up and you were gone and no one knew where you were, no one had seen you! I finally looked in the lab, and saw... I saw what you and FRIDAY had been up to." He was out of breath, breathing hard, pulling back so he could look into her face. He reached out for her, putting his hands on her cheeks. "Pepper, _what were you thinking?_ This was not safe, this was a _terrible_ idea. We have to get you home. We've got to get you stabilized, it's a miracle you haven't de-regulated, it's unbelievable. And you used FRIDAY to--" he stopped, seeming to remember they were not alone for the first time.

He turned and looked on his once teammates, his once family, the people he'd given so much to, the people who had left him utterly alone. The battered super soldiers had taken advantage of Pepper's distraction and Steve had gone to Sam and Barnes had freed Natasha, so when Tony turned, the four of them were watching them. Sam was being held up by Steve's good arm and Barnes and Natasha were seemingly at ease but Tony could see the tension, the readiness to attack. 

Always ready with an attack, these people. It's who they were. It would always be their response to anything they perceived as a threat, but that wasn't news to anyone.

He was staring at them so long, a pained and sorrowful look on his face that Natasha started to speak. "Tony--"

But her voice snapped him out of his revery and he took a step, staggering, but Pepper caught him. "Tony!"

"It's all right, it's fine," he assured her. "Just a little stiff from the flight over. I can't believe you gave Steve Rogers a black eye, Pepper, I really can't. Just... Help me over to the suit." The Mark 40.2 was standing sentry, its repulsors aimed at the ex-Avengers. He just needed to be steadied; the adrenaline had made him weak after the trauma to his heart, his lungs, his body; he shook and she steadied him.

He hated, hated for the others to see him like this-- weak. Without the armor, just a man, just someone who could be easily beaten. Anyone there could stop him easily, he was completely at their mercy and he knew now that they had none and he clenched his jaw and Pepper saw his fist clench, in rage against his own weakness. "I broke his arm too," she said quietly and that got her the small smirk she was looking for, even if it didn't reach his eyes. 

"Tony, are you okay?" Steve said uneasily. "Should we help...?"

"Don't talk to him!" Pepper flared. "Don't you _dare!_ You have no right--" Tony turned, putting his hands up to her.

"Pep, easy, easy! Stay with me. Okay? Everything's fine, Rogers. Just fine. You guys might want to uh... there's people on their way, there were police reports from the noise." Bucky was already moving toward the door, tugging at Steve's shirt, but Steve couldn't seem to tear his eyes off Pepper and Tony. 

"It was you that stopped the armor?" It seemed like he couldn't stop himself from asking. "You stopped her?" 

Tony didn't look at him and didn't respond to him, keeping his focus on Pepper as she let him lean against her and moved toward the armors. "Thanks." He stepped to the Rescue armor, pursing his lips in admiration. "I'll be damned. I really will. This is art. You and FRIDAY did this? Holy shit, is this the RD617? I didn't know we had a working prototype. Shit. You weren't screwing around, were you? This would level this building, how were you planning on using it?"

"Mostly just point it at them," Pepper said, and it was her turn to falter and she sagged slightly against him. He felt the movement and steadied her.

"Okay. Okay. Burned a little too hot, there's going to be some rebound. Pep? You with me?"

"Yeah." His voice seemed far away.

"Okay." He paused as the sound of sirens approaching reached them. Tony turned to the ex-Avengers expectantly. "No use abusing any civilian law enforcement today. Get out of here, I don't want it to turn into a _thing_ and since we're on SI property it's bound to be a thing if you don't hurry up."

"Just like that? Pepper lures us here and kicks our asses and we're just gonna leave?" Sam asked as if asking for clarification, his voice slightly slurred.

"If you want to press charges, my lawyer's in the phone book," Tony said dryly, looking at his watch. His already pale face visibly drained of what little color was left. "We have a problem. That's not the police that's a JSOC team." He sighed, looking pained. "I thought we'd have a bit more time."

He gave an irritated look at the ex-Avengers and Barnes. "Chances are we're presently being surrounded, scram already."

"Tony," Natasha said, pleading. She hated to see him injured like that, hadn't realized the extent of what he'd gone through in Siberia.

He barely glanced at her. "Nope! Hear that?" He listened to the silence between them and the sirens growing louder. "It means we're done here."

"How do we know that crazy dame won't just come after us again?" Barnes muttered and Tony flinched, the first flicker of anger showing on his face.

"Don't worry, Barnes," Pepper answered contemptuously, holding his gaze. "You weren't even worth my time this time around."

They started to leave, Nat taking Sam's arm. Steve hesitated, staying until the last, looking as if he wanted to say something, but Tony had turned away from him, inspecting Pepper's injuries from her fist fight. After a moment, Steve turned and left, looking battered and tired.

Tony never spared him a glance, looking worriedly at Pepper.

"Sweetie," he began. "You're not going to like it. They're probably going to arrest you. I'll get you out, you just have to keep control enough to not turn orange or they're going to--"

"Why would they arrest me? We're on SI property!"

"It was the suit, sweetie. When I signed the Accords, we agreed to certain monitoring. I have ways around it, but I hadn't had any time to implement anything and you and FRIDAY were busted big time. Ross thought it was me, trying to join Rogers and them and he called Medical to check. Helen warned me what he was going to do when he figured out it was not me." He tapped out a command on his watch to send the suits home. Within seconds they were airborne, and Pepper felt chilled as if they had been providing her warmth.

"So you followed me," she prompted.

"Well, first I went to the lab. I thought Ross was off his rocker, there's no _way_ any armors were missing. But FRI spilled the beans. I knew it would take me at least two hours to get there at supersonic speed, but it was still risky whether or not I'd beat Ross since India was one of the countries that ratified the Accords and he had people to reach out to. No doubt he's going to have my head, but as the sole member of the Avengers besides Rhodey who is still in the hospital and Vision, who is incapable of handling everything alone, I'm sure we'll work something out, but. I also, I also--" his face crumpled in pain and he grasped her arms and she held on to him automatically.

"The thought of you fighting those two," he shook his head, unable to go on for a moment. "Pepper," was all he managed, his voice and heart broken.

Carefully, aware that the Extremis made her dangerously strong, she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry." All she wanted to do was protect him. Keep him safe. It seemed like the two of them couldn't catch a break.

"Hands up!" Someone shouted in Hindi, then English. 

Tony responded in Hindi. "We surrender, don't shoot!" He nudged Pepper to follow his lead and put his hands on his head.

"Please be careful, he's Tony Stark! He's injured!" Pepper said frantically as they were swarmed by the tactical team, guns raised, and their leader grabbed Tony's wrist and twisted his arm behind his back.

The man paused at Pepper's words. "You're Tony Stark?" He asked, raising his face shield. "I thought you were in New York in the Hospital."

"Just a little miscommunication," Tony said faintly, the manhandling he'd gotten causing him pain. "I thought there was an emergency. False alarm."

"Come with me Mr. Stark. I'm afraid you are in some trouble," the man said. 

Tony sighed, beyond exhausted. His glance at Pepper was haggard. "Nothing new there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY listen, Pepper is Not in a Good Place mentally and physically at the moment and had she been a bit more rational she may not have felt so strongly against the ex-Avengers but this is where she is. I want to do right by her character, which is why you can see some rational moments but she's MAD okay?
> 
> A/N there's a depressing lack of kudos on this fic! Drop me a line, you interested in another chapter or are we good here?


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